Attacking the smart grid using public information

Over the past years, sophisticated adversaries have infiltrated the control networks of energy companies around the globe. As attempts to compromise industrial control and information technology systems have soared, electric utilities increase their investments in cyber security as an important step to enhance resiliency of the power system. Although utility companies started adopting a defense in depth strategy, compliant with security reliability standards, the first step towards building effective mitigation strategies is to understand the attack vectors emerging from publicly available information. To this end, we utilize data from accessible resources to create a map of the topological and electrical structure of smart grid regions. Furthermore, we identify electronic devices able to control the critical electrical units in the system. The location and characteristics of these components are used in a simulation environment to study the interaction of controls and dynamics in the system. Lastly, we examine the paths of attacking control equipment and discuss the impact of such scenarios.